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CFB: Hawaii Rainbow Warriors Vs. California Golden Bears Preview, Prediction, And NFL Prospects To Watch

By Daniel Benjamin
Published on: 01:30 PST, Aug 26, 2016

The 2016 college football season is upon us.

The California Golden Bears and Hawaii Rainbow Warriors will kick-off the new season on Aug. 25 at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Australia, for the Sydney Cup. This is the first time that a college football game has been played in Australia since BYU and Colorado State played in Melbourne in 1987. Kickoff is set for 10 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN and WatchESPN.

Both Cal and Hawaii are going through rebuilds as the Golden Bears lost star quarterback Jared Goff, and the Rainbows are transitioning from the Norm Chow era to Nick Rolovich – a former Warriors quarterback under Jones. Rolovich is in his first season as a head coach, after being the offensive coordinator at Nevada since 2012.

This is the fifth time the schools have met and the first time they have met at a neutral site. The series is tied at 2-2, but the teams haven’t met since 1994, according to Hawaii Athletics Department.

Quick Overview

Cal went 8-5 last year and is 14-23 overall under fourth-year coach Sonny Dykes. The Golden Bears will turn the offense over to Texas Tech transfer Davis Webb. Webb, who is eligible immediately as a graduate student, played in 23 games with the Red Raiders before showing up in Berkeley.

Webb will have a talented trio of running backs to hand–off to, starting with junior Tre Watson. Watson, Khalfani Muhammad, and Vic Enwere combined to run for 1,500 yards and catch 34 passes. Cal also returns four starters on the offensive line led by Steven Moore and Chris Borrayo. However, the Bears lost their top six wide receivers, but freshmen Melquise Stovall and Demetrius Robertson are two players to keep an eye on.

The Bears struggled as a defensive unit last year. They will be more experienced and deeper this year, though cornerback Darius Allensworth is the only returnee who started every game in 2015.

Hawaii went 3-10 a year ago and Rolovich has a lot of work to do, as the Warriors averaged just 17.6 points a game and surrendered 35.6. Fifth-year senior Ikaika Woolsey will be behind center for the Warriors though it is senior running back Paul Harris who will be the catalyst. Woolsey is experienced but only completed 49 percent of his passes and threw six interceptions to five touchdowns in 2015.

Wide receiver Marcus Kemp leads the return of the squads’ top three pass catchers. The six-foot-four senior can develop into a star but must be more consistent – Kemp totaled 36 receptions in 2015, after 56 catches in 2014. Sophomores Devan Stubblefield and Dylan Collie were No. 2 and No.3 on the team with 30 and 29 receptions, respectively. RG Dejon Allen leads an offensive line that returns the majority of its members from a year ago.

Senior defensive tackle Kory Rasmussen leads a defense that has switched from a 3-4-to a 4-3. The Warriors have an experienced secondary but they will need to make more plays this year.

Prediction: Cal is favored by 19.5 points. ESPN Pick Center gives Cal only a 45 percent chance of covering the spread. The Pick Center also has the odds of the teams scoring less than 64 at 53.4 percent.

NFL Prospects

1. Davis Webb, Cal QB – The six-foot-five, 230-pound senior has very good size and a big arm. Webb played very sparingly at Texas Tech last season, appearing in five games and completing 22-of-41 passes (53.7 percent) for 300 yards and two touchdowns. For his career, Webb has completed 61.4 percent of his passes for over 5,500 yards along with 46 touchdowns and 22 interceptions.

Webb is on watch lists for the Maxwell Award and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.

2. Khalfani Muhammad, Cal RB – The five-foot-nine, 175-pound senior water-bug is a fast, big-play running back who also returns kicks. Muhammad, who is a member of the Golden Bears track and field team, averaged 6.7 yards per carry in 2015 as he rolled up a team-high 587 yards and one touchdown on 87 carries. He also caught 17 passes for 189 yards and two scores. Muhammad’s best game in 2015 came against Texas when he amassed 164 yards, including a 72 scamper, on 10 attempts and one touchdown.

Muhammad has 1,246 yards and nine touchdowns on 209 rushes for his career. He ranks second on Cal’s all-time list in both kickoff returns and kickoff return yards.

3. Vic Enwere, Cal RB – The six-foot-one, 240-pound junior could make himself a prospect with a big year in 2016. He led the Bears’ backs with eight rushing touchdowns and total 505 yards (4.7 yards per carry) on 106 attempts.

4. Steven Moore, Cal RT – The six-foot-six, 310-pound senior, along with Davis, is one of two Bears on the Senior Bowl watch list. He has played in 37 games — 36 starts — in his first three years, including 30 in a row.

Moore is a preseason candidate for the 2016 Outland Trophy and Vince Lombardi Award.

5. Chris Borrayo, Cal LG – The six-foot-three, 315-pound senior has played in 29 games over his three collegiate campaigns. Borrayo is a preseason candidate for the 2016 Outland Trophy and Vince Lombardi Award.

6. Rigoberta Sanchez, Hawaii K/P – The six-foot-one senior led the Rainbows with 47 points as he made 8-of-11 field goals (72.73 percent) with a long of 50-yards. Sanchez also recorded 14 touchbacks on 22 kickoffs and tacked on 23 extra points.

The 2016 Ray Guy Award candidate ranked 13th nationally with 3,335 yards on 74 punts for 45.1 yards an attempt. He recorded 25 kicks over 50 yards, placed 28 punts inside the opposing 20-yard line and induced 18 fair catches while only having two touchbacks.

7. Jerol Garcia-Williams, Hawaii LB – The six-foot-two, 230-pound senior inside linebacker could develop into an NFL prospect with a season similar to last year. He recorded 89 tackles in 10 games with 3.5 tackles for losses and 1.5 sacks in 2015.

8. Paul Harris, Hawaii RB – The five-foot-11, 190-pound senior had a very good first season with the Warriors but will need to have another solid campaign to get the attention of the NFL scouts. He had six 100-yard games in 2015 and finished with 1,132 yards on 197 carries for a 5.7 average. Harris tallied six rushing touchdowns and grabbed 14 passes last year.

[Image via Cal Football/Twitter]

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